Keeping Animal Bones Out of Sugar

Sugar… It seems to be found in everything. People of all ages and
backgrounds can be brought together by something sweet; in the kitchen and
around the table. We can all remember the floury hands, huge messes, and
wonderful smells created along with loved ones in the hope of sharing a
smile over some scrumptious confection. We regard it as a treasure to be
used somewhat sparingly, and even call each other “sweet” to show our
affection.

In the midst of our enjoyment however, we often forget to wonder through
what process this magical substance comes to appear in our bowl, cup, or
pastry. The words sugar and cruelty do not seem to mix. Yet sadly, since
1812, sugar has been, quite literally, mixed with cruelty every day. Sugar
seems vegan at a glance; it comes from a plant after all. But when the
natural sugars from the plant are refined in a factory, they are often
filtered through bone char. When you hear the words bone char, this is
exactly as disturbing as you may think, as it is indeed charred animal
bones, mostly pelvic bones from cows; ground and burned at 400 to 500
degrees Celsius.

Cane sugar, in its liquid form, is filtered through columns made from the
ground bones, which absorb colorants and impurities. Up to 70 thousand
pounds of bone char (the product of about 78 hundred cows) can be found in
each one of the huge filtering vats used in industrial production.

As explained by the Vegetarian Resource Group:

Sugar companies purchase large quantities of bone
char for several reasons, the first being the sheer size of their
operations. Large commercial filter columns often measure 10 to 40 feet high
and five to 20 feet wide. Each column, which can filter 30 gallons of sugar
per minute for 120 hours at a time, may hold 70,000 pounds of char. If nine
pounds of char is produced by one cow and 70,000 pounds are needed to fill a
column, a simple math calculation reveals that the bones of almost 7,800
cattle are needed to produce the bone char for one commercial sugar filter.
(We did not receive a verification of this estimate from another source.)
Furthermore, each refining plant may have several large filter columns.

Reverse osmosis, ion exchange, or synthetic carbons can be used in place
of bone char. According to some sources, these methods are, regrettably,
much more expensive for the time being, which makes consumer pressure for
vegan alternatives even more important.

Pure white sugar is not the only sweetener refined in this way. Although
it is not white, brown sugar is run through bone char to remove impurities,
as is confectioner’s sugar, which is a combination of refined sugar and
cornstarch.

When eating refined sugar, although you are not actually ingesting an
animal product, the money you pay to the company ultimately pays the animal
industry for bones or bone char. It’s important to keep in mind that the
sale of slaughterhouse by-products, including bones, blood and other body
parts such as tendons (as in gelatin), helps the animal industry to make
money from the disposal of their waste, and thereby stay profitable. As
abstract as it may seem, your purchase of sugar (or products which contain
sugar) may be supporting the animal industry.

Most of the cow bones used for refining come from Afghanistan, Argentina,
India, and Pakistan, and are then sold to plants that turn them into bone
char before they are sold in the United States and elsewhere.

Many countries in Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand, have
banned the use of bone char in the refining process. However, if you
purchase foods in any of these countries, it’s essential to make sure that
the sugar they contain is actually manufactured locally.

For those of us who are in the US, and in other countries where bone char
filters are still widely used, there are a number of cruelty-free options
available. Although not all refineries use bone char filtration, many large
companies sell sugar combined from many different sources, some of which may
be non-vegan.

Thankfully, the following companies state that their product doesn’t go
through the bone char process. (However, we recommend that individuals
verify this information for themselves, since things can change.)

Any certified USDA organic sugar

Turbinado sugar

American Crystal Sugar Company

Florida Crystals Refinery

Imperial Sugar Company

Irish Sugar Ltd

Monitor Sugar Company

Refined Sugars Incorporated

Supreme Sugar Company

Sugar in the Raw

SuperValu

Western Sugar

Pillsbury

Tate & Lyle North American Sugars Inc

Wholesome Sweeteners Sucanat

Rapadura

There are also many sweeteners that do not come from cane and do not require
going through the bone char process. The following are some of the most
commonly used and easy to find vegan alternatives:

Beet Sugar (Careful! some companies mix beet and cane together)

Xylitol (birch sugar)

Agave Nectar

Stevia

Maple Syrup (Make sure that the company doesn’t use lard as a de-foaming
agent.)

Brown Rice Syrup

Fruit Juice Concentrates

Date Sugar

Fructose

Sugar is meant to be sweet in all ways, not laced with cruelty. Take a stand
against the use of hidden animal ingredients, and keep bones out of your
baking.

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